The idea would be to cut the$100 billion debt it piled up after acquiring Anheuser-Busch Cos., Stella Artois and Corona.
The move, reported by The Wall Street Journal, follows last week’s cancellation of its $10 billion IPO of its Asian business, Budweiser Brewing. AB reportedly wants to get its debt down to $80 billion so it can make more acquisitions without losing its investment grade rating.
ABI is reportedly considering cutting its dividend for the second time in less than a year.
Why would ABI sell its Asian businesses? They raise lots of cash but aren’t viewed as having great growth prospects, the Journal said.
When InBev acquired A-B a decade ago, we noted that the company’s Belgian-Brazilian bankers were great at making deals and slashing costs, but not so good at selling beer. Nothing has happened to change that opinion.
We asked ABI to confirm the Journal report, but it hasn’t responded as we went to press.